Tough Times
by bless-ya-soul
Summary: Spiderman reminisces about fighting the Green Goblin while working his latest job.


Parker reached his arm up as high as possible, straining the muscles and shooting a thin, invisible string from his finger tips. Beads of sweat began dripping down the sides of his face, his brow scrunched with concentration. He tried desperately to relax his facial muscles; he mustn't show fear or exertion. This had to look easy. It was his job to sell it as best he could.

There were eyes on him now, jaws dropping with awe as he was pulled skyward with magic. He always knew how to draw a crowd and the thoughts filled him with a sense of pride.

He cleared his mind of everything, of all distractions. His uncle's death, the spider, these strange new sensations, that hottie currently giving him the eye 50 meters away. _No, don't think about her,_ he coached himself again as her face transformed into another; a Miss Mary Jane whom he found himself thinking about a lot at night when he was alone. He grabbed the cold iron and hoisted himself up.

There was a time before all this though Parker could barely recall what normal felt like anymore. He was tired, his work often keeping him up late and being physically demanding. Though it wasn't as if he had been given a lot of choice, times were tough nowadays. The streets had changed slowly and his role had been forced to change along with it.

His thoughts became bitter as he recalled a heist a few months back. He had been on top of his game, soaring through the clear blue sky, hanging from a thread, just a hit away from danger. Goblin had been causing some trouble in a nearby mall, desperate for Spiderman's attention and naturally Parker was more than willing to oblige. Thirty-seven hostages and two wounded cops later, the street was crawling with SWAT agents as Parker crashed through the glass rooftop and landed atop a large floating orb in the centre of the foodcourt. He had arrived just in time to catch the Green Goblin holding a helpless baby girl above a 50 ft drop.

"Goblin! A baby? Really?" Parker chastised, shaking his head. "Talk about picking on the helpless." He continued, slowly descending down from the ceiling upside-down in his usual pose.

"Only took you about 3 minutes? You've gotten slow Spider _boy_." Goblin laughed wickedly, dangling the baby tauntingly as the infant began to wail. Her mother was being held back by a strong looking man, as she reached out and cried for her offspring. The Goblin was oblivious to the crowd, all his focus on his arch nemesis.

Parker yawned, "well with a mall standoff, it didn't really seem worth my time. Figured this was one for the cops." He knew which buttons to push. The Goblin clenched his jaw and slid a hand further down the baby's leg as she grew a few inches closer to the ground.

"A spider is a pest, one that needs to be squashed." He growled as Parker continued to dangle from his string of glory.

"Well Gobs, I'm here. Why don't we take this fight outside where we can have a bit more fun?" He suggested, trying to take some of the attention away from the baby. The Green Goblin took the bait, not able to resist the opportunity. The baby soared through the air for a few seconds, wailing before Parker quickly swung and plucked her before her death. He was a pendulum in an old clock, creating a large arch and landing on a table in the foodcourt to return the baby to her rightful owner.

Goblin took off like a rocket through the air, taunting the spider to chase him through the mall. It was Parker's turn to take the bait, grinning as he shot webbing from his hands to subdue his opponent. He continued, dodging various razor bats as the two crashed through the glass and emerged back on the street. The police chatter erupted at the sighting, news cameras flashing as Spidy took a second to stop and pose for a picture.

The Green Goblin did a quick 180 and faced his opponent head on, but Parker was ready for him. He jumped up high and landed on the Goblin's glider, giving a tough right hook to the Goblin's purple helmet. The two fought in the air, the board losing power as it slowly descended down to the busy street. Parker shot webbing into his eyes and knocked the man on his back. The cops swooped in to detain the villain as Spiderman shot a string to the top of a building to make his quick get-away. Not before he quickly grabbed an ice-cream from a nearby truck, saluting the shocked (and now angry) vendor as he passed.

Peter thought fondly of those moments now, recalling several others and their subsequent victories. The lights shone brightly as he dangled upside-down, slowly sliding back to the floor. He couldn't see much and struggled to keep his eyes open and a smile on his face. His palms began to sweat, the metal was a lot different than his webbing, though he had to be careful with that now. In the lighting it was near invisible, the perfect illusion, though he wasn't about to risk it and blow his cover. Getting up to his feet he walked to the loud thumping beat, reaching the top of the stage and peering out. He blew a kiss to that hottie in the last row, moving his hips in a slow swaying motion. His shirt came off quickly, then his pants. The crowd roared and hard change hit his legs as he was showered with tips. He grinned and moved back to the pole, running a hand up and down as he rubbed his body along the iron. Using his arms he started to pull himself up it, using a bit of webbing to help him maintain grip. He reached the ceiling and let his head fall back as he seemed to dangle with ease from one hand. He swung around it, slowly descending back to the ground, pole between his legs and shaking his nearly naked ass.

After the Green Goblin's arrest, the streets had grown quiet. It seemed most criminals had been scared off by the capture of such a high profile supervillain, that they were laying low. Either that or avoiding anything larger than armed robberies and small-time murders, neither of which Parker bothered himself with. He was after the big time. That feeling he got as he was flying through the air, seemingly falling to his doom before quickly recovering and knocking a villain on his ass. With the quiet streets, Peter had been forced to find another line of work. _At least for right now_ , he kept telling himself. _Times were tough._


End file.
